Robert Lee "Bob" Morris

Robert Lee “Bob” Morris departed this world on June 19, 2025, at home in Connestee Falls in Brevard, North Carolina. Bob Morris was born on January 27, 1949, at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio, to Elmer Eugene Morris and Evelyn Margaret Morris (neé Kellogg). His father was a World War II veteran who served across most of the European theater before returning to the U.S. and a 37 career with Timken Rolling Bearing Corporation; his mother was a homemaker who did her best with three boys. Bob was the middle child and spent nearly his entire childhood in the same house on Perry Drive in Canton, playing baseball with his brothers. A 1967 graduate of Perry High School, Bob graduated from The Ohio State University, in Columbus, in 1971 where he excelled at bowling and but less well at Organic Chemistry. His then-goal of becoming a veterinarian was dashed early in his junior year when he managed to cause a small explosion in the lab and was threatened with disenrollment if he didn’t change his major… and so started Bob’s foray into business, as he switched to a business degree, majoring in real estate… which was the only one degree he could complete and still graduate on time! Unlike most recent college grads, Bob started his professional life actually in that he actually using his real estate major, first at the Ohio Department of Transportation and subsequently with New York Life Insurance. He eventually found his place as a pension fund advisor, where he apparently had a small role in the adoption of “Collateralized Mortgage Obligations” as a new mortgage-backed security (oops); to his credit, his role with CMOs was a couple decades before 2008. Over his professional working life, his career took him from Ohio to Atlanta, New York/New Jersey, Metropolitan D.C., back to Atlanta, and finally to South Florida. Over those first 10 years out of college, he welcomed his son, Greg, and then his daughter, Annie, across two marriages, which both ended in divorce.

 Like all humans, Bob wasn’t perfect, but he tried hard to be a good Dad. He always tried to be present when he was with his children and let them play whatever goofy thing they wanted and made them feel like there was nowhere in the world he would rather be – whether he was doing MadLibs, bowling, throwing balsa wood airplanes off hotel balconies, going to movies, or coaching softball – his children felt safe and loved, and he gifted them both his love of music (particularly Harry Chapin) and Ohio State football. 

Eventually Bob met his soulmate in Boone Moody Smith; they met in 2001 and married in 2003 (he always liked to joke how he was “interviewed” for the role), and they settled in Fort Lauderdale. It was not long before the mountains of North Carolina began calling, as a one-time visit to friends led to the purchase of a house in Connestee Falls. The 2008 financial crisis drove a major change in Bob’s professional life as he made a late-in-life pivot to real estate appraisal, working for Boone. It took a few more years, but by 2015, they made the decision to relocate full-time to Brevard. The “BobBoones” finally found their place in the world, building a large coterie of close friends, playing golf, and subscribing to the Brevard Music Center, where they could be found at most of the center’s performances over the summer. Bob’s life came crashing down in January 2024, when he lost Boone to a long battle with cancer. He subsequently struggled with multiple health issues made worse from the stress of grief. Anyone who knew them together knows he truly died from a broken heart. 

In life, Bob loved to smoke meat and barbecue, play euchre and other card games, travel, sip a good glass of wine and the occasional Guinness, play with his crazy cats, watch Ohio State and University of Georgia football (and any other football, really), play golf with his “Happy Hackers” group, watch movies, and listen to music. He could be found with friends every Tuesday and Thursday evening at “his” bar seat at The Falls Landing, where he always had a joke or funny comment ready. He is survived by his brothers Richard “Dick” Morris (Alliance, OH) and sister-in-law Nan and John Morris (Zellwood, FL) and sister-in-law Linn; his son, Gregory Morris (Alexandria, VA) and wife Yuka; his daughter, Annie Ledford (Canton, GA) and husband Marcus; six grand-children Grace, Alexander, and Kent Morris, and Finn, Max, and Ellie Ledford; his cat, Georgie; and his legion of friends in the Connestee Falls community and Brevard region. 

In lieu of flowers, donations are kindly requested to be made to either the Brevard Music Center, 349 Andante Lane, Brevard, NC 28712 or St. Jude Hospital, the two organizations to which he made specific bequests.